IT was the tear-jerking video which went viral and won over the hearts of the football community.

Last year Melbourne captain Nathan Jones and Jack Watts made a surprise visit to the Adelaide home of six-year-old Sydney whose father had sent an email to the club explaining he was a lifelong fan who had cancer and couldn’t afford to buy a birthday present for his son.

The Demons filmed the visit and entered it in the Virgin Australia Film Festival where prizes were on offer to AFL clubs going the ‘Extra Mile’.

It turns out they weren’t the only ones contacted.

Recently AFL clubs have been made aware that Sydney’s father, Sam Arnold, had sent similar emails, claiming long-term allegiance, to at least 10 clubs as well as NBL and A-League teams who were visiting Adelaide.

The little boy has been the match day mascot for GWS, Geelong and the Melbourne Heart this season.

In the emotive letter Mr Arnold explains that he is a single dad who has spent the last six years of his life battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma blood cancer.

As part of the Melbourne video, he reads out the letter which he sent to the club: “My name is Sam Arnold, I’m a 43-year-old lifetime supporter of the Melbourne Demons footy club.

“Due to my health, I’ve been unable to work for some time, so I cannot afford even to buy a present for my son. I was wondering if the Melbourne footy club may be able to donate a kid’s supporter pack for my son’s sixth birthday.

“It would really mean a lot to both myself and my son during my recovery.”

When Geelong was informed of the contact with other clubs, a few things started make sense, including a conversation Sydney had with one of the Cats staff as he ran off the ground.

Asked if he wanted to have a quick kick, he replied: “I don’t really like footy.”

THAT was some gold from Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley who got caught in a Twitter war with Sheeds who’d earlier had a crack at Carlton and Collingwood for playing “boring” football on Sunday night.

The exchange continued for 24 hours with Buckley forced to answer questions about his social media work at a press conference yesterday.

“No, it was tongue in cheek,” Buckley said when asked if he regretted the tweet. “You can’t have any fun now. Sheeds is a bit of a stirrer at the best of times. I probably learnt a bit of a lesson last night.”